I saw this album cover. It’s for the next album by Dysrhythmia, Test of Submission, which Profound Lore says they will be releasing on August 28. No test is needed . . . I am ready to submit.

I also saw that Be’lakor has just put HD versions of all the songs from their terrific new album Of Breath and Bone up on YouTube. Find those tracks here. Read Andy Synn’s review of the album here. (And thanks to NCS reader Daniel for the tip on this news.)

I also saw that Doris Yeh from Chthonic is on the cover of a fashion magazine called FHM. I no longer have to wonder what she looks like naked.

Also, I saw the album art for the next album by Testament. Actually, I saw this a week or two ago, but I like it so much that I wanted to put it in a post somewhere . . . and voila!

The artwork was painted by Eliran Kantor. It’s fantastic. The album is called Dark Roots of Earth and it will be released by Nuclear Blast on July 27 in Europe and on July 31 in NorthAm. There will be a CD/DVD version of the release as well as a vinyl version, and those two formats will include three bonus tracks on which Testament will cover songs by . . . Queen (“Dragon Attack”), Scorpions (“Animal Magnetism”), and Iron Maiden (“Powerslave” — Fuck Yeah!).

I also saw this new album art for the first full-length by Band of Orcs in five years. It’s a self-titled concept album, “detailing the adventures of the Gore-Stained Axe Tribe as they war against the giants of Hirntodia”. I have no fucking idea what that means. I do know that Band of Orcs are uglier than Doris Yeh. But I like their music. More details about the album can be viewed here.

I saw this photo of Kobra Paige, the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for a Canadian metal band named Kobra and the Lotus. She is pretty. She kinda got carried away with the eye shadow, but she has a nice smile. Looks a bit like Angela Gossow, but . . . fuller. I have no idea what this band sounds like. Do I want to know?

I saw this new t-shirt from Disma, which is being sold here. I may have to buy it. It reminds me that I never heard Disma’s 2011 EP, The Manifestation, which includes “The Purulent Quest”. But that song is also on Towards the Megalith, so I guess I’ve only missed out on the other song on the EP.

So, is this yawning or is this auditioning as a backing vocalist for Disma?

I saw this on the FB wall of Tommy Wills (RXYZYXR). He likes cute animal pictures, which I think is metal.

He also keeps giving away his NCS Fucking Good Pancake Tour shirt to metal bands he sees on RXYZYXR’s outings in Russia and Europe, which is also metal. Which reminds me that I need to send him another shirt. If I remember correctly, he gave away the last one to somebody in Veil of Maya when RXYZYXR played with them in Moscow earlier this month. Also, RXYZYXR has new music in the works . . . .

I also saw this album cover for Intrinsic, the new album by The Contortionist, which will be released on July 17 by eOne/Good Fight Music. I liked this band’s last album, and I’m interested in the new one, which was recorded and produced by Eyal Levi (Daath) and Jason Suecof.

UPDATE!:

I saw these photos of a band called Butcher Babies, because Andy Synn mentioned them in a comment to the original version of this post. He says they are terrible, but I had to look, didn’t I? One of them took eye-shadow application instructions from Kobra Paige. I wonder if it hurts when they have to take off that black tape.

Well, I guess I’ll stop here. This morning I also heard some new music and saw some videos I hadn’t seen before, but those will have to wait, because this post is only about things I saw.

HaHa, just kidding. I ALWAYS include music in NCS posts. So, here’s one of those videos — Jeff Loomis doing a playthrough of “Mercurial” from his new album. Amazing.

Kobra and the Lotus? No… no you do not. Various magazines over here in the UK seem intent on forcing this band down our collective throat, but thankfully no-one seems to be swallowing it.

Also have you encountered Butcher Babies? They’re supporting Anthrax(?) over here, and are utterly terrible. Bad nu-metal with some of the most predictable riffs I’ve ever heard, with two god-awful female vocalists doing some sort of faux-rebellious vocal… something. Honestly, it’s hard to decribe.

I looked up one of their videos on YouTube, because, what the fuck, why not, right?

Of the 4:30 minute video, at least 1:30 minutes of it was not song, just video exposition.
They reminded me of Jack Off Jill kind of…but I like Jack Off Jill much more. Though I’m not sure if JOJ is really that much different…more gothy? Maybe I dunno.